Define 'Lynching' as a noun?

The gathering of a mob of vigilantes to execute a person (who may or may not have broken the law), without the approval of the law.

In American history, it most usually refers to the hanging of an African American, though others of every race were lynched, including one Jew. Lynchings are known for being racially motivated, but especially in the "wild west" people were sometimes executed in this manner in the name of vigilante justice.

Dictionary.com defines it this way:

lynch  /lɪntʃ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [linch]

–verb (used with object) to put to death, esp. by hanging, by mob action and without legal authority.

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Origin:

1825–35, Americanism; v. use of lynch in lynch law

Define Lynching